Showing events on this day in years past that shaped history... just, not our history.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

March 31, 1492 - Alhambra Decree Begins Scheme to Send Jews West

The Reconquista of Spain completed
with the Battle of Granada on January 2, 1492. Muslims had controlled the
Iberian Peninsula after their invasion in 711, but gradually the Christian
kingdoms of the north expanded southward. In-fighting slowed the
Christian efforts, but the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of
Castile in 1469 united two of the largest kingdoms to a single force. In
twenty years of warfare, they pushed back the Muslims to Granada, where they affirmed
rule of the peninsula fully in the hands of Christian monarchs.

Following the battle, Ferdinand and
Isabella settled on to new projects. With the conquest of Granada, the
Catholic Monarchs had acquired vast lands but also now ruled a new population
of Muslims and Jews. Jews, as fellow "People of the Book", were
initially treated with respect under early Muslim rule. Jews from all
over the Mediterranean immigrated to what was then known as al-Andalus,
creating banking and centers of education. Religious zeal increased on
both sides of the peninsula as Christians called to retake lands lost by the Visigoths,
and tolerance of Jews fell. The Spanish Inquisition began in 1480, giving
religious authority to the crown rather than the Pope. Their agent, Dominican friar Tomás de Torquemada, served
as Grand Inquisitor as well as confessor for Isabella. Along with others,
he encouraged the monarchs to expel non-Christians from the country to purify
it. Those who did not leave would have to convert (and the Inquisition
would make certain they did not secretly practice forbidden faith) or face
torture and death.

While religious fervor marked much
of the reasoning behind expulsion, the matter was also economical.
Torquemada stressed that much of the economy of Spain was held by influential
Jews. With their power, they could subvert the authority of the Church or
even the monarchs. He called for their expulsion long before the conquest
of Granada, but Ferdinand and Isabella did not want to risk the crash of their
economy during wartime. With the war over, they could restructure their
economy as well as seize the valuable property of the Jews who chose to flee.

Meanwhile, Christopher Columbus, an
Italian navigator campaigned at court for funding of an expedition that would
reach the Orient by sailing west. He had attempted to win favor from John
II of Portugal, but the king had turned him away after his advisers stated the
calculations for the circumference of the Earth were far too short.
Columbus had argued at court since 1486, noting the potential wealth from a new
trade route. He was given no positive answer, but he was furnished with
food, lodging, and a salary, keeping him on retainer rather than seeking
support from any other monarch of Europe.

When it slipped that Columbus would
eventually be turned down on the advice of Torquemada, Columbus decided to
change his position. He took one item of Torquemada's agenda, the removal
of the Jews, and tied it to his own. Managing an interview with
Torquemada, he pointed out the danger of letting the Jews "escape" to
build up power elsewhere. Instead, they should be sent to the East, where
their wares would have to pass through Spain to market. Torquemada
approved the plan, and the monarchs soon announced the "Alhambra
Decree", stating that in four months Jews would be forced to live in
Granada alone. That summer, hundreds of thousands of Jews moved to the
city, allowed to keep their possessions but selling homes and businesses far
under value.

In 1493, Columbus returned
successfully from what was soon to be realized as the New World. His next
expedition left that September, and along with it went a large fleet of forced
Jewish immigrants. The Spanish established settlements on Hispaniola,
using Jews and local natives as labor. Over the next decade, the Jews of
Spain converted, sneaked out of the country, or were deported to the New
World. During the rule of the Spanish Empire, several Jewish revolts
began, but the might of the Conquistadors and the Spanish navy put down the
rebellions. Many Jews settled into their work on plantations and were
joined by African slaves, creating a lucrative economy exporting to Europe.

By the seventeenth century, new
hope for the Jews arrived as other nations began to colonize the
Caribbean. Piracy flourished, and, in the chaos, Jews escaped from
Hispaniola by the thousands to neighboring islands. Many settled on the
far coast of Hispaniola under French rule, helping to make Saint-Domingue the
most prosperous colony in the region. The Caribbean became a popular
destination for Jews fleeing oppression in other areas of Europe, particularly
Germany and Italy, where corporations funded ships to transport colonists.

Antisemitism continued in the
Caribbean, where for centuries the Jewish people were held as second-class
citizens along with natives and Africans. As they gained economic clout
by the early twentieth century, however, the Jews won their recognition, and
the Caribbean today is well known for its banking, produce, and tourism.
In modern times, many Jews hold to ideals of Zionism, wishing for a Jewish
state in Palestine, where some Jews have established communities.
However, with the large Jewish population of the Caribbean, there has not been
fervent international action answering the call for a geographic "Israel."

--

In reality, the Alhambra Decree
simply expelled the Jews from Spain. Torquemada convinced Isabella to deny
Columbus's request, but, as he was riding away, he was stopped by messengers
from Ferdinand who had asked the queen to reconsider. Meanwhile, the Jews
of Spain fled by land or sea, where many perished as brigands sliced them open
looking for swallowed jewels or captains threw them overboard after charging
exorbitant fees for passage. Many Jews escaped to the Ottoman Empire,
where Sultan Bajazet boasted, "How can you call Ferdinand of Aragon a wise
king, the same Ferdinand who impoverished his own land and enriched ours?"